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Starlink 16 (Falcon 9) 20 January 2021 |
Space Launch Complex 39A Kennedy Space Center |
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched 60 Starlink satellites into orbit from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center at 8:02 a.m. on 20 January 2021. Following first-stage separation, Falcon 9 successfully landed for the eighth time on the Just Read the Instructions droneship stationed in the Atlantic Ocean. Falcon 9’s first stage booster rocket previously supported seven other missions: the SXM-7 mission in December 2020, launch of the RADARSAT Constellation Mission in June 2019 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, launch of Crew Dragon’s first demonstration mission in March 2019, and Starlink missions 3, 6 , 9, & 13. One half of Falcon 9’s fairing previously supported a Starlink mission and the other previously supported two. The Starlink satellites will eventually form a constellation around the Earth providing global satellite-based internet access. |
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| A lot to see in this sunrise image that shows most of the pads in the northern part of Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and Kennedy Space Center. At left, just behind the water tower, can be seen the Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex 41 where the Atlas V rocket is launched. Then Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center where the Falcon 9 rocket for this morning's launch can be seen. To the right of 39A can be seen three lightning towers which denote Space Launch Complex 40, another SpaceX pad that launches Falcon 9 rockets. In the distance, to the right of the round fuel tanks can be seen the towering gantry of Space Launch Complex 37 where the Delta rockets are launched. Just out of frame at right is Launch Complex 39B where NASA will launch the Space Launch System rocket. | |
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